DIAMOND WORLD JEWELLERS PTY LTD V CATLIN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

[2021] NSWSC 1431, New South Wales Supreme Court, Justice Schmidt, 5 November 2021

Insurance (property) – Utmost good faith – Duties of assured in claims process – Duties of insurers in claims process – Proof of loss

Diamond World Jewellers Pty Ltd (DW), which operated a jewellery shop, was insured by Catlin Australia Pty Ltd (Catlin). The policy covered all risks of physical loss and/or damage to goods at the premises, in the event of robbery. The measure of indemnity was “Cost Price, including tax where applicable”. The “stock records clause” required DW, in the event of a claim, to provide Catlin with “all available information including documentary evidence, whether these be official or unofficial, of all purchases, sales and other transactions of insured stock”. The “information in event of loss” required the assured, as a condition of indemnification, to give Catlin “such information and evidence as to the property lost or damaged and the circumstances of the loss or damage as the Underwriters may reasonably require and as may be in the insured’s power”.